Computer is an automatic electronic apparatus for making
calculations or controlling operations that are expressible in
numerical or logical terms.
Main Memory
ADDRESS DATA & INSTRUCTION
INTERCONNECTION INTERCONNECTION
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Operational
Registers Arithmetic
Logic Unit
Control Unit
DATA & CONTROL INFORMATION
INTERCONNECTION
I/O System
1. The basic function performed by computer is the execution of a program.
2. A program is a sequence of instructions which operates on data to perform a
certain task.
3. In modern digital computers data is represented in binary form by using 0 & 1
which are called binary digits or bits.
4. Normally computers use bits (2 or 4) to represent a character internally. This
allows up to 28 =256 different items to be represented uniquely. This collection of
8 bits is called a byte.
5. A word is equal to the number of bits transferred between the CPU and the main
memory in a single step. Normally a word may be equal to 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits.
6. The unit which interprets a code to generate respective control signal is termed
as Control Unit (CU). The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) performs the arithmetic
operations (+,-,*,/) and the logical operations on the data. The ALU and CU are
together termed as Central Processing Unit (CPU). All the arithmetic and logical
operations are performed in the CPU in special storage areas called registers.
7. Register size refers to the amount of information that can be held in a register for
processing. The larger the register size, the faster may be the speed of
processing. A CPU’S processing power is measured in MIPS (Million
Instructions Per Second).
1. On the 1st generation computers the CPU performance was measured in
milliseconds (1 thousandth of a second), in micro-seconds (1 millionth of a
second) on 2nd generation, in nano-seconds (1 billionth of a second) on 3rd
generation and is expected to be measured in pico-seconds (one thousandth of
a nano-second) in the later generations.
2. The input module puts the data in the form of signals that can be recognized by
the system. The output module will report the results in proper format and form.
These components are referred together as I/O components. The most common
I/O devices are Key Board, Mouse, Monitor and Printer.
3. The most common interconnection structure is the Bus structure.
4. As in programs jump instructions are encountered, more than one data elements
may be required at a time, a temporary storage area is needed in a computer to
store temporarily the data and the instructions. This component is referred to as
memory.
5. The memory unit stores all the information in a group of memory cells (memory
locations) as binary digits. Each memory location has a unique address and can
be addressed independently. The contents of the desired memory locations are
provided to the CPU by referring to the address of the memory location.
6. The amount of information that can be held in the main memory is known as
memory capacity. The memory capacity is measured in KB/MB/GB, etc.
